Aleksandr I (r. 1801-1825)early period and reforms

But first, Paul I, 1796-1801• Born 1754• Isolated, strict upbringing• Tutor Poroshin said Paul

“always in a hurry.”• Catherine cold to him• Became very suspicious,

especially of assassination• Married Maria

Feodorovna (1776), who bore Aleksandr in 1777.

• Worried about his legitimacy.

"To Great Grandfather from Great Grandson" (Прадеду - правнук)”

Paul’s reign, 1796-1801• Knights of Malta (1798)• Chivalry• St. Michael’s Castle• Overturned many of

Catherine’s laws• Decreed strict primogeniture• Anti-French, anti-West, then

anti-British• pro-serf, restricted barshchina

to 3/week; nobles saw as interference in their private affairs

• Imposed travel restrictions• Corporal punishment

Paul’s assassination, 23 March 1801• Nikita Petrovich Panin• Petr von Pahlen• Zubov brothers• Gen. Levin Benningsen• Alexander agreed, but

insisted Paul not be killed.• Alex was “shocked.”• Pahlen: “Enough of

playing the child; come and rule!”

• Legacy: guilt, no children, revealed his duality.

Aleksandr’s early years• Grandma Catherine

supervised education.• Tutor was Swiss republican La

Harpe• From hatred between Paul

and Catherine learned dissimulation.

• 1793: married Elizabeth Alexeevna

• Two girls, both died in infancy• Aleksandr: “I am the

unhappiest man on the earth.” (to Swedish ambassador in March 1801)

Aleksandr’s early reforms• Created “Негласный комитет” – Privy Council of young

enthusiasts for reform• Two key problems: autocracy and serfdom• Neither were solved.• 1802: created new ministries to replace colleges:

– Military Land Forces– Naval Forces– Foreign Affairs– Justice– Internal Affairs– Finances– Commerce– Education

Aleksandr’s early reforms

• Education: – Divided empire into six educational regions with

curators – Founded Universities of Kharkov, St. Petersburg,

and Kazan; reconstituted Dorpat (Tartu) and Vilna (Vilnius) universities

– Progress slow, but from a very low beginning– But no state-run village schools, scrapped along

with serfs’ emancipation.

War “intervened”• Battle of Austerlitz,

December 1805: Napoleon defeated Russia and Austria.

• Battle of Friedland, June 1807: Napoleon defeated Russia again.

• Treaty of Tilsit, July 1807– Russia junior partner– Continental System– Prussia lost much– Duchy of Warsaw

At home, Tilsit was very unpopular• “…in all the places in Russia

most touched by education, the Tilsit peace made the saddest impression: in these places they knew that the alliance with Napoleon could be nothing other than enslavement to him, an acknowledgement of his power over us. I do not possess great wisdom but in this I saw the cruel unfairness of Russians; I became ashamed for them.” (F. F. Vigel, 1786-1856)

Mikhail Speransky, 1772-1839• Son of village priest• Rose to be two tsars’ advisor• Practical man• Civil service exam before

promotion to 8th (hereditary) rank

• Improved government finances• 1809 Constitution proposal:

series of dumas, division of powers

1802: “I find in Russia two classes: the slaves of the sovereign and the slaves of the landowners. The first call themselves free only in relation to the second; there are no truly free people in Russia, apart from beggars and philosophers.”

Why did Speransky fail?

• Came from wrong estate?• Alienated nobility (exams and temporary tax)• Left to rely on Alexander alone• Alexander not willing to give up his authority.• Alex unpopular, used Speransky as scapegoat.• Speransky: “You know the suspicious character of

the Emperor. Whatever he does he does by halves. He is too feeble to reign and too strong to be governed.”

• March 1812: Alexander dismissed him.

Napoleon’s Continental System, 1807-1812